Tribal Unity

He shrugged and pivoted his shoulders away from me, sending a wash of relief over my entire body. The conversation was over and I lived through it. Rick was looking at the clouds moving overhead. They weren't particularly menacing but they were the first clouds we'd seen since we got to the island.

"I wonder when this thing is going to hit."

"Not til latah." Christopher answered Rick.

It wasn't until then that I realized that he probably heard our entire conversation. I looked guiltily up at Christopher but he seemed disinterested in me. Is it just me that finds this embarrassing? Geez!

Children started to appear a couple at a time until they were all gathered around the table like usual. Our little friend sat wedged between two older children, one boy and one girl, capturing the attention of most of the group. She was every bit as impetuous as I first thought she might be, and I saw so much of myself in her. At least the girl I used to be. I had difficulty taking my eyes off her and so when she took a breath between sentences and glanced over, we locked gazes.

Rather than look away, as I was ordinarily accustomed to doing from years of practicing western culture etiquette, I stayed put and maintained eye contact. She wrinkled her nose and grinned impishly and then curled her fingers in a subtle wave of greeting. I smiled and waved back but then one of the other children said something that averted her attention from me to them. I waited for a few seconds, but her mind was elsewhere now. Her momentary curiosity about me had passed.

Rick was chatting with Christopher and it was clear to me just how entirely self-centered I really was. They hadn't even noticed my ten second exchange with my new friend, and neither the children nor the two men, were paying attention to me at that moment. It's not about me. I'm nothing more than a single member of the group. Suddenly I felt like I was being left behind. I was standing still waiting for people to notice me and make judgment, but it wasn't happening. They were all moving along about their business; onto the next topic of business or play. No real energy was spent on self-wallowing or pity for someone else, because it just wasn't important.

This observation was a source of great relief to me, but also a source of fear. It became apparent, to me anyway, that I might actually stay stuck where I was while Rick moved on, if I didn't make up my mind. Hadn't Christopher said something about that when we first arrived? That these people don't wait. I had thought it was because they were some rare form of island Type A personality. It wasn't that at all. They aren't overly self-involved. They stretch their focus outward, but not to the extent of enabling others to become self-involved, either. How brilliant. How utterly stable.

Christopher informed us that when rains were heading toward the island, water gatherers changed their routine to allow for a second method of collecting drinking water. In short, it freed up the lagoon for bathing and we were allowed to go at any time. This was good news. Even though I didn't feel like I needed it as much as I would've after a few days without bathing back home, I longed to be in the water. Swimming, bathing, whatever.

We were reminded on how to get there and then Christopher excused himself from our presence. I noticed that this was something he was doing gradually more each day. What do you expect? He has a life, too.

We headed down the path toward the water, Rick in the lead. The lagoon was deserted as we'd been led to believe it most likely would be. The villagers were busy with their daily tasks and seemed to follow pretty tight schedules. Rick stepped down off a smooth rock into the knee-deep water at the rim of the pool.

He turned toward me and I thought he was going to hold his hand out. Instead, he rapidly grasped my waist and pulled me to him, lowering my feet into the water in front of him. I'd forgotten how strong he was. He lifted me like I weighed nothing. The water was cool and clear. You could easily see the bottom, even at the points where it became quite deep. I was scanning the bottom of the pool, vaguely aware of Rick's hand resting on my hip.

"Christopher would have mentioned it if there was something to watch out for, right?"

"Yeah, no worries, mate." Rick said, in a pathetic attempt at an Australian accent.

I laughed and lunged forward into the water. It felt luxurious against my warm skin.

Rick followed behind me, and as soon as we were facing each other, I splashed him.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"For your sorry-ass Australian accent, that's what."

Rick chuckled and then looked around the perimeter of the lagoon until he located what he was looking for. "Over there."

My gaze followed his pointing finger. At one end of the pool of water was a trickling stream feeding fresh water into the pool.

"Where is that coming from?"

"Don't know, exactly. All these islands are volcanic, if that has anything to do with it."

I dipped down, wetting my entire head, then smoothed my hair back against my scalp as I emerged.

"God, you're so incredibly sexy when you do that."

"Oh, stop. I am not."

"I think I'm a better judge of that than you are, missy."

"I know; you know everything."

"No, not everything, but some things. I know you."

"You think you do."

"I do." He latched onto my arm and yanked me toward him until I was flush against his chest. Firmly wrapping his arms around me in a trapping embrace, he lowered his voice to a deep growl, "I know it turns you on to be trapped in my arms like this."

I pressed my palms against his chest to push away from him but he had me secured in his grasp.

"The more you struggle the harder I'll get, Mrs. Connell."

"Rick, stop. We're supposed to be bathing."

"We are bathing. And no, I won't stop. I'm tired of that word, 'no'. I want to hear you say 'yes'."

I shook my head, even though every pore of my body was screaming 'yes' at him.

"I'm not convinced, Lori."

He lowered his head and placed a kiss on my jaw line, close to my ear.

"I think you want this."

I weakly shook my head as my eyelids fluttered to a close. His warm breath tickled my neck for a moment before his lips touched the sensitive skin there. He delivered several tiny kisses to my neck before returning to my ear to whisper.

"I think you want more than this, don't you?"

I whispered, "no."

It was part of a game we used to play. One that used to get me so worked up I'd say or do anything. It had always been my fantasy to be taken like this. Not raped or anything. More like dominated. I liked when Rick didn't ask; he took.

His lips closed on my neck more forcefully and I gasped. Teeth scraped my skin and pulled flesh between them as he sucked and nibbled. Tiny pain sensations mixed with pleasure shot straight down my spine to my sex. My hands moved up toward his head where my fingers wove into his wavy locks of hair. Please kiss me, please, please, please.

As if he heard my thoughts, he abruptly pulled away from my neck and closed his lips onto mine. I tilted my head to open up to him and his tongue snaked between my parted lips. Oh, yes! I moaned into his mouth and he responded by tightening his hold and delving his tongue more forcefully into me.

His kiss consumed me completely. It was powerful and passionate. My entire body was buzzing with arousal; with need. Rick broke our lip contact and grinned a sly, wicked grin.

"You're not getting off that easy. I want to hear you ask for it."

I groaned, "No, please, baby..."

"Yes." Rick wrapped his fingers around my hair and steadily pulled a fistful of it downward until my head was tilted back fully.

The throbbing in my pussy intensified. I was so close to coming.

"Oh, God, Rick, please..."

"Please, what?"

The unmistakable sound of approaching footsteps snapped us back to the lagoon. Prior to that, we could have been anywhere; floating in outer space for all I knew. Rick released my hair but kept me tucked tightly against his chest.

A couple came into view about three quarters of the way around the circular pool. They spotted us almost immediately but wasted no time staring at us. The young woman was in her early twenties, I'd guess, and the man wasn't much older. They were a handsome couple and it was obvious they were attracted to one another.

I tried to pull away from Rick but he maintained his grasp.

"Shhhh, just watch for a second. They're not interested in us."

Rick was correct. They weren't the slightest bit interested in what we were doing, or concerned that we could see them. The young woman sat down on the flat part of the rock next to the water and scooped up a handful to throw at her mate. His only response was to lower himself over her, nibbling the flesh around her nipple before closing his mouth over the center, engulfing her entire perky mound with his mouth.

She laid back and mewled in delight. Without delay, he moved down between her legs, roughly attacking her pussy with his mouth. His head rolled from side to side and up and down as his young mate squirmed and bucked beneath him. It was raw the way he held her torso down with one hand while he gripped her thigh open to assault her with his tongue and teeth. Just as it sounded like she would explode into an orgasm of mammoth proportions, the young man lifted up and very expertly slid his stiff cock inside her wet sex.

His hips bucked wildly for a few minutes, his fingers stroking her clit at a feverish pace until she was screaming her release. He came at the same time, grunting and groaning with heavy thrusts.

A few moments later, he pulled out of her and scooped a handful of water onto his glistening, semi-hard member. He finished rinsing himself off and then stood up. The woman followed him out, not bothering to wash herself or get in the water, as I would have expected. And as far as I could tell, they never spoke a word to one another. Not before, during, or after.

I was stunned. It was all over in a matter of a few short minutes, it seemed. Damn, these people are so efficient. I wondered if she was the one 'in season' or if we just witnessed some secret rendezvous. If it was just to reproduce, would he have been so concerned with bringing her to orgasm? It hardly seems necessary.

We heard voices and a small group of villagers came walking down the pathway toward us. Our time alone was gone. Damn. I was in worse shape, mildly aroused and totally unsatisfied after having witnessed hot sex on the shore.

Rick kissed me on the forehead and loosened his grasp around me. It was disappointing. He didn't indicate as much, but I'd already ran it through in my mind. If I wouldn't have played so hard to get, we'd have had sex and would be happily trotting down the path just like the young couple we'd witnessed.

****

Chapter Seven: A Tropical Storm

Several hours later, it was apparent that the young woman we saw on the shore of the lagoon must be the one in season. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was following us. We ran into her two more times that afternoon with different men. Oddly, the routine was practically identical each time and I wished there was someone I could ask about it. I'm sure as hell not going to ask Christopher. It didn't matter, really. Just curious.

By the time dinner rolled around, I was downright irritable. Arousal had wracked my body and then receded like a yo-yo all day long and my nerves were shot.

I plopped down on the bed and laid back, draping my arm over my eyes.

"It's dinnertime. Aren't you hungry, hon?"

"No. Go ahead. I'm going to take a nap."

"Okay. I'll hurry through and come back and check on you in a bit."

I waved him off without lifting my arm from over my eyes. I could hear the shuffling of feet toward the dining area until gradually there were no more footsteps, no one left behind but me. I sighed deeply, groaning as I released the air from my lungs.

"I changed my mind about dinner."

I lowered my arm to see the dark outline of Rick standing over me. When my eyes adjusted to the light I noticed that his expression was hard; intensely serious. And his cock was standing fully erect before me.

"I decided that I want to eat here, instead. I've been thinking about it all day."

Rick placed one knee on the bed as his hands worked to spread my knees apart.

"Ri..."

"Shhhh, I don't want to hear it, Lori. Just lay there and be quiet...or don't be quiet, I don't care. But don't tell me to stop because I can't. I won't."

He pressed my thighs to the bed, wide apart and stared at my gaping sex before him like a starving man.

"God, I've wanted to do this for so long."

He lowered his face until his lips were brushing against the short hairs blanketing my mons. He parted his lips and gathered a mouthful of my flesh into his waiting mouth, moaning with his first taste of my arousal. My body rewarded him with a gush of hot fluid and he lapped it up greedily. There was something about the way he was attacking my wet pussy that just sent me over the edge right away. My body shuddered with release as I shamelessly ground my hips into his face.

He didn't stop, though. He barely slowed down, only pausing for a moment to reposition his body so he could slide his fingers inside me and curl them around my pubic bone. For a moment I thought I might urinate on him, then I could feel it building again. Another orgasm, right on the tail of the previous one.

My mouth dropped open. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and looked down at him incredulously. He moved his tongue to my swollen, sensitive clit and began circling it relentlessly as his fingers pistoned in and out of my weeping slit. It was an all-out assault with one goal in mind: to make me orgasm.

"Oh, God..." My whispering cries of pleasure turned to non-sensical whimpering, and then to pitiful mewling just before my release. A thousand electrical impulses seemed to explode at once in my clit, lifting my hips off the mattress in the most powerful orgasm of my life.

His fingers slipped slowly out of me as he very gently kissed his way up my tummy. He paused at my breasts, sucking the darker flesh of my nipples through his pursed lips until they were standing up stiffly. Then he flicked them hard with the tip of his tongue. I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair.

"Isn't it nice to just play like this? We used to do this for hours, remember?"

I nodded, "I remember."

Thunder boomed in the distance. "Storm is coming."

"Yeah. I guess we better find out if there's something we need to do."

"Nah. They'll watch out for us. Why don't we just stay here for awhile and get reacquainted?"

"Reacquainted?"

"Yeah. I'm still waiting for you to ask me, ya know."

I smiled, "Is that what you're waiting for?"

"Yeah."

"You know I like it better when you don't ask for permission."

"I know. But just this once, I need to hear it. Just say 'yes' and that'll be good enough."

I shook my head, "I can do better than that. I'll tell you what I was about to say in the lagoon.

"Please fuck me, baby. Take what's yours; what's always been yours."

"Oh, God, honey. Just try to stop me."

Rick rolled his body on top of mine and pinned my wrists to the bed with his hands. He lowered his head to my neck and bit down as he positioned the head of his hard cock at my opening. I tilted my pelvis and he slipped past the outer labia. I could feel my walls expanding to accommodate his berth as he inched deeper into my channel.

His body shook with restraint as he struggled desperately not to spear me in a lustful rush. He grunted through clenched jaw and bared teeth like an angry wolf. When he was fully seated inside me, he froze. A few seconds later, my channel relaxed around the invasion, accepting him, welcoming him home, it seemed.

Rick nuzzled my neck and whispered into my ear, "I want you to come again for me."

"I don't think..."

"Shhhh, yes you can. Just concentrate on my fingers."

Rick released my wrists and I started to slide my arms to my sides.

"Stop. Keep your wrists up there. In fact, clasp your fingers over your head."

I did as he commanded. He pulled himself up onto his knees, and rotated me a bit to the side, making sure to stay fully seated inside me as he did so. He held one knee up and moved his free hand to my clit, pressing his thumb firmly to the little bundle of nerves as he rocked slowly in and out of me.

He felt enormous and the angle placed him deep inside, filling me completely. How perfect. It was incredible. His slow movement, the way he was luxuriating in the act as he traced tiny circles around my now-hard clit, was divine.

I started to pant as my lovely arousal gathered strength. He was gliding more freely now in an easy rhythm, in and out, in, out. Every stroke added to the symphony of sensations. He took my clit between his thumb and forefinger and rolled it back and forth. It brought my orgasm crashing down on me. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out. He released my clit and slammed his hips into mine, huffing and growling as he deposited his payload deep inside me. I could feel my walls gripping and milking him in the wake of my climax. He remained perfectly still, deep within me for several minutes.

Fat raindrops landed outside the doorway and within minutes it was a deluge. Outside the tropical storm had arrived, but inside our tiny hut, it felt like the storm was finally past. It felt like we'd managed to turn the corner heading back to where we belonged.

We made love through the downpour, through the night, and into the morning. We talked and laughed until our sides hurt. At some point we noticed that people had placed fruit and nuts inside the doorway. They'd noticed we weren't at dinner and brought sustenance for us. I don't know how we missed seeing anyone doing it. The doorway was only a few short feet from the bed. I guess we were a little preoccupied.

****

Chapter Eight: Adoption

The storm caused some minor problems to one of the pathways that the villagers used for carrying water to and from the lagoon. A large tree near the walkway had died a few years ago and the winds, although not particularly harsh, brought the dead tree down across the path. All of the strongest men were pulling together to move it, including Christopher, so Rick asked to go and help, as well. It was the right thing to do and I shared his need to contribute, in this place where everyone contributed something. Except for us.

The situation left me all alone, however, or so I thought. Rick wasn't gone for five minutes when a woman showed up at the doorway of our hut. She motioned for me to follow her and I did.

She led me to the sitting area just behind the children's dormitory. A group of women were sitting in a circle around a basket. Several stones served as a hard surface for cracking and shelling some sort of nut. I sat and watched for a moment and then imitated what I observed. It was amazingly more difficult to master the technique than I could've imagined and I fumbled several times, taking more than twice as long to complete the task as everyone else. They didn't seem to mind. They chatted endlessly.

I was able to determine a lot about the individuals just by watching their mannerisms and how they interacted with one another. The woman to my left, the one who brought me, was an older woman of some respect. The others looked to her for approval a great deal as they spoke. The woman to my right was immensely shy. Not just around me, I got the feeling, but around all the women. She looked up through her eyelashes a lot and crossed her arms in front of her.